A Quick Guide to Getting a Better Night’s Sleep

Posted on
Tuesday, 12 September 2017

Sleep is just as important when it comes to staying happy and
healthy as things such as eating well and exercising regularly. Often due to the busy lives we tend to lead, sleep can become a
low priority, sacrificed to squeeze out a couple of extra hours of working or
socialising.

For some people, falling asleep and getting good quality rest can
just be quite challenging. If getting a good night’s sleep is something you struggle
with, we’ve put together this quick guide to hopefully give you a few pointers
on what may help you! Read on to see if you pick up a few tips you haven’t
tried before.

Environment

Ban television from the bedroom, and unless you live in a home
where you need to double up your bedroom as an office for space reasons, try to
avoid doing any work in the room where you sleep.

You should also avoid using your mobile phone once you get into
bed, or if you must, enable night mode if your phone has the feature, as you
should avoid white and blue light before attempting sleep.

A bedroom that is used only for sleeping and intimacy is the best
environment for getting a good night’s sleep, and it’s also recommended that
the bedroom be free from clutter. If you need to use your bedroom for storage
as well as sleeping, check out this article from Houzz
on creating a clutter free bedroom.

Keep your bedroom dark, and invest in blackout blinds if you have
streetlights outside your window or live in an area with lots of light
pollution.

Lifestyle

To prepare your mind and body for sleep, there are quite a few
things you can do both throughout the day and before bed time.

Exercising regularly will help you to sleep better, as well as
feeling more alert during the day. The National Sleep Foundation has reported
that 150 minutes of exercise per week is the minimum recommended amount, and
you can read more about the study in this article.

Try to keep a regular bedtime, even on weekends. It is easy to be
tempted to stay up later if you have nowhere in particular to be, but
maintaining your sleeping pattern can make a huge difference to how well you
sleep.

You should limit caffeine and nicotine, as these stimulants can
affect your sleep up to 12 hours afterwards, and you should also avoid
consuming food or alcohol three hours before bed time. But you should also
avoid going to bed hungry, so if you’re experiencing hunger pangs try a snack
such as a banana or some yogurt.

Comfort

Make sure that you are comfortable and relaxed when you get into
bed. Perhaps take a warm bath before bed time, as this can really help to relax
you after a long day.

If you suffer from cold feet, wearing socks in bed is recommended
to avoid the feeling of being cold keeping you awake.

If you still don’t feel relaxed once you are in bed, listening to
some relaxing music is a great way to help you drift off. If you find wearing
headphones in bed too uncomfortable, the Sound Asleep Pillow which is available from Sleepy
People is a great solution, and you won’t need to worry about
disturbing your partner if you don’t sleep alone.

We hope this has given you some insights into how you can help
yourself to get a better night’s sleep!